California Wine Country

Nine of the best sites about the California wine country, mostly considered to be the wineries of Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley, but including other California wineries as well. Know of another site that should be listed here? Leave your suggestion at the bottom of this page. (Related searches: Sonoma Lodging, San Francisco California, Ravenswood Wine)

1. Fodor’s California Wine Country Travel Guide - Travel guide publisher offers its recommendations on things to do, places to stay and where to eat on your vacation in California wine country. Includes top winery tours, hotels, inns and bed & breakfasts, best restaurants, spas, and suggested itineraries depending on the length of your stay in wine country. (www.fodors.com)

2. WineCountry.com - Portal to the California wine country includes a directory of wine country wineries in Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley, “Gold Country”, Lodi, Monterey, Mendocino, San Luis Obispo / Paso Robles, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Temecula. Also includes information on restaurants and hotels in wine country, upcoming events, information on wine country tours, local real estate, having your wedding in wine country, and more. (www.winecountry.com)

3. Sonoma’s Laid-Back Look - November 16, 2007 article says that Sonoma’s reputation as more relaxed than Napa Valley is often shown in its architecture, but this suggested tour of Sonoma wineries shows that while the wineries may tend toward the no-frills barn look, you can also find the “theme parks” there. (www.sfgate.com)

4. Wine Country Gift Baskets - If you want to send a bit of wine country to family or friends, this company puts together gift baskets featuring California wines and assorted foods. Includes mixed wine baskets as well as theme baskets of certain types of wine or certain wineries. (www.winecountrygiftbaskets.com)

5. California Wine Country Art Prints & Posters at AllPosters.com - Images of California wine country include both photographic images and art prints based on wine country paintings and lithographs. (www.allposters.com)

6. California Wine Hikes - Company offers walking tours of various wineries and other areas of wine country. (www.californiawinehikes.com)

7. Wine Notes: Mother Nature Takes Away, and Gives - November 16, 2007 article on the cold January weather and lack of rainfall limiting wine production in the San Luis Obispo area, but still producing high quality wines. (www.sanluisobispo.com)

8. Napa Valley Photography Images at SFBayImages.com - Color and black-and-white pictures of various aspects of the Napa Valley. You can of course peruse the images, but their business is in selling them, so if you need wine country photos for a project of some sort, you’ll find plenty of good ones here. (www.sfbayimages.com)

9. Grounded in Cult-Wine Country - November 16, 2007 article on Miner Family Vineyards in Napa Valley. (www.sfgate.com)